{"id":58132,"date":"2019-02-28T08:00:13","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T13:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=58132"},"modified":"2019-03-02T19:09:27","modified_gmt":"2019-03-03T00:09:27","slug":"damien-harris-2019-nfl-draft-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2019\/02\/28\/damien-harris-2019-nfl-draft-profile\/","title":{"rendered":"Damien Harris 2019 NFL Draft Profile"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Overview<br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>Position: <\/strong>Running back<br \/>\n<strong>Height: <\/strong>5\u201910\u201d<br \/>\n<strong>Weight: <\/strong>214 pounds<br \/>\n<strong>School: <\/strong>Alabama Crimson Tide<\/p>\n<p><strong>Combine Performance Data<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>40-yard dash<\/strong>: 4.57 seconds<br \/>\n<strong>Bench press<\/strong>: 16 reps<br \/>\n<strong>Vertical jump<\/strong>: 37 inches (third-best among running backs)<br \/>\n<strong>Broad jump<\/strong>: 10 feet, 1 inch<\/p>\n<h1><strong>Damien Harris 2019 NFL Draft Profile<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p>The Alabama Crimson Tide had one of the best running back duos in all of college football, and now both players are declaring for the 2019 NFL Draft. While <strong>Josh Jacobs<\/strong> is the bigger name heading into the draft, <strong>Damien Harris <\/strong>actually outperformed him during the 2018 season. Splitting carries with Jacobs, Harris finished his season with 150 carries for 876 yards and nine touchdowns. Additionally, Harris showed an ability to contribute out of the backfield with 22 receptions for 204 yards.<\/p>\n<p>Harris was a star ever since his high school days. Throughout his four years at Madison Southern High School, the big-bodied back recorded an absurd 6,748 yards and 122 combined touchdowns (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kentucky.com\/sports\/high-school\/prep-football\/article44545908.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">no, that\u2019s not a typo<\/a>). His fantastic time in high school made him a five-star recruit, and he eventually ended up landing with the Alabama Crimson Tide.<\/p>\n<p>Harris backed up <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/H\/HenrDe00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Derrick Henry<\/a><\/strong> as a freshman but earned the starting job in each of the next three seasons. During his collegiate career, Harris recorded a combined 477 rushing attempts for 3,070 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns to go along with 52 receptions for 407 yards and two touchdowns. Basically, he was exactly as advertised and should be one of the first running backs off the board.<\/p>\n<h2>Strengths<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Tough, physical runner capable of picking up hard-to-get yards;<\/li>\n<li>Reads rushing lanes well and can follow the open block;<\/li>\n<li>Falls forward at the point of contact;<\/li>\n<li>An efficient runner who doesn\u2019t hesitate to attack a gap;<\/li>\n<li>Excels at finding cutback lanes if initial block isn\u2019t available.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Weaknesses<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Never been the workhorse back, so durability could be a question;<\/li>\n<li>Lack of explosion and speed limits his lateral running ability;<\/li>\n<li>Like most draft prospects, need time to develop in pass protection;<\/li>\n<li>Doesn\u2019t bring anything special to the passing game;<\/li>\n<li>Lack of open field speed limits big-play explosive ability.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>NFL Comparison: Derrick Henry, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/A\/AndeC.00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">C.J. Anderson<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Teams With Need at Position:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/bills\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Buffalo Bills<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/eagles\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Philadelphia Eagles<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/buccaneers\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/jets\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New York Jets<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/raiders\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oakland Raiders<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/redskins\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Washington Redskins<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Projection: <\/strong>Round two<\/p>\n<h2>Bottom Line<\/h2>\n<p>Damien Harris certainly has a future in the NFL. The Alabama product was one of the best backs in college football thanks to his great vision and no-nonsense running style. He excels in short-yardage work and falls forward when hit, which gives him a safe floor as a short-yardage bruiser.<\/p>\n<p>However, Harris\u2019 skill set conflicts with the direction most teams are heading in. Dual-threat runners like <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/K\/KamaAl00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alvin Kamara<\/a> <\/strong>and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/M\/McCaCh01.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Christian McCaffrey<\/a> <\/strong>are all the rage, and Harris doesn\u2019t have the elusiveness, pass-catching ability, or open-field speed to match their skill set. If he were draft eligible in 1995, he\u2019d probably be a first rounder.<\/p>\n<p>That said, there\u2019s still an NFL market for a player like Harris. Goal-line and short-yardage running is some of the most important in the league, and Harris is a master at converting those opportunities. His great vision should allow him to thrive in any blocking scheme and his ability to cut back and improvise only helps his value. He probably won\u2019t ever be a bell cow running back, but Harris can easily be a contributing member to a running back rotation.<\/p>\n<p>Main photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"Rl9V1TASQzt0NvMA3DliTQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1079274136\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'Rl9V1TASQzt0NvMA3DliTQ',sig:'sIeZ_gdWxRhDiiiiIayFN94USVVhd82qcy5hs2HBLe8=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1079274136',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After splitting carries with Josh Jacobs, Alabama Crimson Tide running back Damien Harris is declaring for the 2019 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2376,"featured_media":58133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[54,2,1647],"tags":[4070,1674,4748,61,40,1173],"class_list":["post-58132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorials","category-featured","category-nfl-draft","tag-2019-nfl-draft","tag-alabama-crimson-tide","tag-damien-harris","tag-football","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-draft"],"modified_by":"John Bava","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}